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United States Court of Appeals FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT ___________
No. 09-1096 ___________
Michael Casey; Julie Pennington; * Michael Crider; Kathleen Keller; * Richard Keller; Richard Piatchek; * Heidi Piatchek, * *
Plaintiffs – Appellants, * *
v. * *
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, * Appeal from the United States as receiver of Washington Mutual * District Court for the Eastern Bank, * District of Missouri.
* Defendant, *
* North American Savings Bank; * Heartland Bank; ABM AMRO * Mortgage Group, Inc., *
* Defendants – Appellees. *
___________
Submitted: September 24, 2009 Filed: October 20, 2009
___________
Before MURPHY, BRIGHT, and RILEY, Circuit Judges. ___________
MURPHY, Circuit Judge.
The plaintiffs in this case were members of a class who brought claims in Missouri state court against their mortgage lenders, alleging that the lenders had engaged in the unauthorized practice of law by charging a fee for preparation of loan documents by nonlawyers. The state court dismissed the claims against four lenders who were federal savings associations (FSAs). While an appeal of that decision was pending, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was substituted for one of the FSA lenders and it removed the claims to federal district court. That court1 adopted the state court`s preemption decision and then transferred the appeal to this court, together with a renewed motion to remand. We affirm.
I.
Appellants are seven homeowners whose claims against FSA lenders were dismissed by the state court based on federal preemption: Michael Casey, Julie Pennington, Michael Crider, Kathleen Keller, Richard Keller, Richard Piatcheck, and Heidi Piatchek (the homeowners). The original appellees were the FDIC and three FSA lenders: North American Savings Bank, Heartland Bank, and ABM AMRO Mortgage Group, Inc. While this appeal was pending, we granted Michael Crider`s motion to dismiss his claims against the FDIC.
The FSA lenders are mortgage lenders or brokers who extended credit or refinancing for the homeowners` purchases of residential property. In the course of these transactions, the FSA lenders allegedly charged fees ranging from $100 to $250 in exchange for the preparation of mortgage documents. The homeowners allege that charging such fees constitutes the practice of law which Missouri reserves for licensed attorneys. They seek to enforce Missouri statutory and common law prohibiting the
1The Honorable Jean C. Hamilton, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.
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unauthorized practice of law, as well as the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MMPA).
The FSA lenders moved in the state court to dismiss the claims against them, arguing that the Missouri laws in question were preempted by 12 C.F.R. § 560.2, a federal regulation issued by the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) under the Home Owners’ Loan Act (HOLA), 12 U.S.C. §§ 1461–1468. The state court agreed and granted the motion, concluding that the Missouri laws were preempted and therefore the claims failed to state causes of action.
The homeowners appealed to the Missouri Court of Appeals and while their appeal was pending, the FDIC was appointed receiver of Washington Mutual Bank, which was successor in interest to one of the FSA lenders, North American Mortgage Company (NAMCO). After its motions to be substituted for NAMCO and for a ninety day stay were granted under 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d), the FDIC removed all these claims to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri under § 1819(b)(2)(B).
The homeowners filed two motions in the federal district court. One was filed by Michael Crider who sought dismissal with prejudice of his claims against the FDIC pursuant to Rule 41(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The second was filed by the remaining homeowners who sought remand of their appeals to the Missouri Court of Appeals. The district court denied the first motion without prejudice but did not rule on the second. Instead it adopted the state court’s order as its own, relying upon Metro North State Bank v. Gaskin, 34 F.3d 589 (8th Cir. 1994), and transferred the case to this court for appeal.
The homeowners renewed both motions before this court. On February 3, 2009, we granted Michael Crider’s motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 42(b) of the
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Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. We ordered that the remaining homeowners’ renewed motion for remand be considered with the substantive appeal.
II.
The homeowners argue that remand to the Missouri Court of Appeals is required by 28 U.S.C. §§ 1446(a), 1447(c) and that it is appropriate as a matter of judicial discretion under 28 U.S.C. § 1441(c) and Burford v. Sun Oil Co., 319 U.S. 315 (1943). They also contend that the state court erred when it found their state law claims preempted by 12 C.F.R. § 560.2. We consider the renewed motion to remand before turning to the state court preemption decision which was adopted by the district court.
A.
The homeowners first argue that remand is required because the February 3, 2009 dismissal of the claims against the FDIC deprived this court of subject matter jurisdiction over their state law claims against the remaining FSA lenders. Section 1447(c) requires that a case removed to federal court be remanded if at any time it is determined that subject matter jurisdiction is lacking. Filla v. Norfolk Southern Ry. Co., 336 F.3d 806, 809 (8th Cir. 2003). Because we retain subject matter jurisdiction under 12 U.S.C. § 1819(b)(2)(A), however, remand is not required by § 1447(c).
We have not previously addressed the issue whether dismissal of the FDIC from a case predicated upon § 1819(b)(2) jurisdiction deprives a federal court of subject matter jurisdiction over remaining state law claims. We have however answered an analogous question in the negative: in Kansas Pub. Emples. Retirement Sys. v. Reimer & Koger Assocs., 77 F.3d 1063, 1067 (8th Cir. 1996) (KPERS), we decided that dismissal of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) from a case predicated upon 12
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U.S.C. § 1441a(a)(11) jurisdiction did not divest federal subject matter jurisdiction over remaining state law claims for which no other basis of jurisdiction existed.
In KPERS, the plaintiff sued a bank and various individuals in state court, alleging violations of state law. Id. at 1065. After the RTC was substituted for the bank, it removed the entire case to federal court under § 1441a(a)(11), which provided the sole basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction. Id. at 1066. Subsequently the RTC was dismissed from the case, and the plaintiff moved to remand the state law claims brought against the individual defendants. Id. We affirmed the district court`s refusal to remand, holding that "under [§ 1441a(a)(11)], once the RTC becomes a party to the case, the entire action is `deemed to arise under the laws of the United States` and is within the original jurisdiction of the district court." Id. at 1067 (quoting § 1441a(a)(11)).
The language in § 1441a(a)(11), upon which that holding turned, tracks the wording found in § 1819(b)(2)(A), the statute which serves as the sole basis for federal subject matter jurisdiction in this case. Compare § 1441a(a)(11) ("[A]ny civil action, suit, or proceeding to which the Thrift Depositor Protection Oversight Board is a party shall be deemed to arise under the laws of the United States . . . .), with § 1819(b)(2)(A) ("[A]ll suits of a civil nature . . . to which the [FDIC], in any capacity, is a party shall be deemed to arise under the laws of the United States."). Employment of such similar language in these two closely related statutes implies an intent by Congress that the two be interpreted in the same way. See Atlantic Clearners & Dyers v. U.S., 286 U.S. 427, 433 (1932). The fact that the current versions of the two sections were enacted by the same act of Congress only buttresses that inference. See Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, Pub. L. No. 101-73, 103 Stat. 183, 216, 367. Moreover, the law concerning the RTC often informs its analogue in the FDIC context, and vice versa. See, e.g., In re Collins Sec. Corp., 998 F.2d 551 (8th Cir. 1993).
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